DOODLING UP ANOTHER 101 SKETCHES was hardly as daunting as the first two times. Developmentally speaking, i think my drawings this time around were much better. I had more of a focus for this round: I made a list of bad advice and tried to give it a physical form, taking it into the most literal sense possible. Breaking up approximately 10 sketches per theme made the ideas more fluid and I had less time to dwell. Surprisingly, using a different coloured marker for each theme supplied me with a notion of fresh page as I sketched on a single scroll of paper. The bliss of permanent markers is that the ideas flood out freely without second thought. There is less constraint and more confidence with each stroke. And I do think the drawings became sillier.

I reassure you that this is a very good thing.

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I PICKED AND PLUCKED out preliminary ideas from the 101 sketches that stood out to me, while also taking into account which ones resonated with my co-designers. I redrew them into illustrator for a Pecha Kucha styled presentation.

The general theme was adapting everyday objects to depict something which reflected depressive behaviours.

The cups for instance, appear to be normal until the user picks it up to find the handle is purposely broken (i wanted a possibly for the handle to be attached with magnets or something).

The dishware and utensils are equip with malfunctions to make the use intentionally difficult, as if they would take twice the time to use.

The bed is a reflection of the difficulty of getting out of bed. This branched to furniture which has a disability, like the table that has one leg an inch higher than the rest.

The night lights were suppose to be peculiar creatures that had little purpose, but took up space.

The clocks each represented hours, minutes and seconds passing, respectively. For those who are depressed, there is an obsession with time- either coming and going to quickly or passing too slowly.

The scales were an idea refined from fall 2010 which ask the question, what if you could measure sadness? Would a beaker of tears outweigh a stack of emo poetry?

Recounting this process, it’s strange to think that none of these ideas came into frution. Oh well. That’s the design process for you!

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THE CURIOUS CHALLENGE OF THIS PROJECT is to see the unseen by capturing a mental disorder as a manifestation. I constantly ask myself, what does depression physically feel like? What can it look like? I asked my co-designers what their initial thoughts were about their own depression, these quotes helped inform my 100 sketches.

Some of my favourite quotes:

“i’m so small inside this body”
“i’m protecting them by hiding it from them”
“makes me feel like a ghost”